Embodiments relate generally to optical medical devices, and, in particular, to methods and apparatus related to a connector portion of a laser-energy-delivery device.
A variety of known endoscope types can be used during a medical procedure related to, for example, a ureteroscopy or colonoscopy. Some of these known endoscope types include and/or can be used with a laser-energy-delivery device configured for treatment of a target area (e.g., a tumor, a lesion, a stricture). The laser-energy-delivery device can include an optical fiber through which laser energy is delivered to the target area from a laser energy source. Laser energy from the laser energy source can be emitted into a proximal end (also can be referred to an entry end) of the optical fiber and propagated along the optical fiber until the laser energy is delivered to the target area out of a distal end of the optical fiber.
Laser energy that is not completely delivered into the proximal end of the optical fiber (can be referred to as stray laser energy or leaked laser energy) can adversely affect the mechanical properties and/or optical properties of the laser-energy-delivery system. For example, the stray laser energy can result in inefficient delivery of laser energy and/or damage to the laser-energy-delivery system. In some cases, an optical fiber can be susceptible to burning and/or breaking during operation when stray laser energy enters into and weakens a coating around the optical fiber. The stray laser energy can enter into, for example, a cladding layer of the optical fiber and can overfill the cladding in an undesirable fashion (e.g., a damaging fashion) when the optical fiber is bent during operation. The stray laser energy can be caused by misalignment of an output focal spot of the laser energy source with the proximal end of the optical fiber because of, for example, improper maintenance of the laser energy source or focal spot drift.
Although known coupling components (e.g., tapered coupling components) have been designed to deal with stray laser energy, these known coupling components can lack stability, can increase the effective numerical aperture (NA) of guided light which can lead to premature failure of a laser fiber when bent, redirect laser energy inefficiently, are relatively expensive to manufacture, and/or require relatively large heat sinks. Thus, a need exists for a coupling component that can increase the longevity of a laser-energy-delivery system, increase laser energy transmission efficiency, and/or reduce heat sink requirements.